Crimson Love, Violet Passion
by Kamen Rider Omega
Summary: Ranko/Shampoo pairing, 3 Shot, set 3 years after the series.
1. Homecoming

_**Crimson Love, Violet Passion**_

**Ladies and Gentlemen (and the one psychopath in the back row) I humbly invite you to read my story below, but before you do, please take a brief moment to look this authors note over, as I feel three very important points must be stated now before the rest of the story can be read.**

**Firstly, I was requested to write this story by a few friends of mine, including my good friend Major, whom I have collaborated with in previous stories to an extent, and while I had always wanted to write this story, it was his encouragement (and the encouragement of the other members of my small group of friends) who gave me the inspiration to finally put this story down into text, so if you want to thank anyone, thank him and my other friends.**

**Secondly, I wish to state that I do not now nor will I ever own the rights to any of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma ½ series, nor do I make any claim to it by writing this story whatsoever.**

**Finally, this story contains Yuri, which for those who don't know is lesbian love scenes, and takes place between Ranko and Shampoo, Ranko being Ranmas female form, and she will be addressed as such throughout the fic, if you have any issues whatsoever with the idea of lesbian characters or romance and sex between said characters being depicted in text form, divert your eyes or go somewhere else. **

**With all of that said, I hope you enjoy.**

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Three years. Three long years had passed. In that time, Ranma had officially annulled all of his engagements; Genma Saotome had passed away due to heart problems brought on by excessive alcoholism. With the passing of his father, Ranma had gone off the map, leaving no trace, as though he had vanished into thin air.

The city of Nerima was very quiet without the dark haired martial artist there to attract shenanigans to the town like a magnet. Within these last 3 years, the residents had gone back to life as normal. The more colorful residents had settled into relative calm, as much as these purveyors of insanity could anyway.

In other words it had been a fairly uneventful day, blue skies, birds chirping, Sun shining, all that jazz. Shampoo had taken these last few years to learn better Japanese, her grammar having improved to the point where she was for all intents and purposes bilingual, able to effortlessly switch between the two languages with fluid ease.

The cheeky Chinese purplette had just finished delivering the last of the orders to the far side of town, swinging a leg over the frame of her bicycle and began to ride it back towards the restaurant. Half way there, she passed the Tendo Dojo, where Akane had been giving lessons in place of her father, who had become rapidly feeble in the wake of Genmas passing. Shampoo and the various other former fiancés had all come to a rather surprising agreement to respect Ranma's decision to break of their engagements.

As she was nearly a block away from the Nekohanten, Shampoo was forced to hit the brakes hard. In front of her was a person passed out in the small alley between the streets, a ragged brown cloak obscuring most of the person's body, only a small, womanly hand was visible from the collapses body.

Shampoo quickly dismounted her bike and ran over to the prone figure on the ground. As she got closer, she could hear shallow breathing, bending over the body of the prone figure, she slowly and gently rolled them over, the hood of the cloak falling away from the face, revealing a yard long braid of ruby red hair. Shampoo could only gasp in shock as she stared at the face of her former betrothed, "AIREN!"

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Ranma would be taken by Shampoo to the nearest hospital. Once there, the doctors immediately put her in the intensive care ward, her body showing signs of near starvation, as though she hadn't eaten for a week. Coupled with that, she had a series of bruises and markings all over her body, each from a different source.

It would be a whole week before she came out of the coma she had been in when Shampoo found her.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Ow" she groaned out as she came back to awareness, her blurry vision slowly clearing as the medication addled her thoughts. She looked and saw the IV sticking in her arm, slowly dripping the medication and water she needed into her veins. She had never felt so beaten up in her life, and her body was slow to recover.

She felt a weight on her lap, and looking down, she saw a mass of rich violet hair, cascading down the back of the Chinese Amazonian who it belonged to. The purplette shook herself awake as she sensed Ranma's own awakening. "Ranma!" she exclaimed as she suddenly leapt to her feet.

The redhead felt a smile creep onto her face, her vision filled with beautiful face and flowing purple locks. "Ranko" she managed to say through a throat that felt as dry as the Sahara Desert. "What?" the warrior maiden replied. "Ranko, I changed my name Shampoo" the crystal blue eyes of the weakened marital artist showing her conviction.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

Over the week, Ranma, now going by the name Ranko Sao, had begun to recover, able to walk on her own, and quickly gaining enough strength to leave the hospital. During that time, Ranko revealed that she had been traveling around the country on her own.

It was nearly sunset when the pair entered the Nekohanten, Shampoo had the run of the place since her grandmother and Mousse had both moved back with the tribe in China.

"Nerima has been rather dull without you here Ranko" Shampoo stated as she sat with the ruby redhead, who at the moment was slowly and patiently eating a bowl of ramen, her entire demeanor nothing like it had been before she left. "I had to leave; there was nothing for me here, not while I was my old self. I didn't know what I had; I was selfish, arrogant, ungrateful, and stupid. I am ashamed of how I acted, a true martial artist would not have acted the way I was, and I dared to call myself a master!" Ranko said with anger in her voice, the chopsticks she was using snapping in two as she flexed the fingers of her hand in irritation, before realizing her loss of control, breathing deep and focusing on calming down.

"I hurt a lot of people Shampoo, and my old man kicking the bucket made me realize it, I had to get away to reflect, to cleanse my mind until I was able to make right what was wrong. I am ready to clean up my messes Shampoo, I just need to find the right way to do it" she stated with an even tone, her voice firm but calm, her eyes reflecting a newfound wisdom. Shampoo could see the resolve in her sapphire blue eyes, the look of calm determination making the redheads face almost glow with confidence, making Shampoo slightly blush despite herself.

"Well," Shampoo said before pausing and taking in a breath to steady herself, her heart hammering in her chest "I want to help you Ranko, however I can!" she said with marked conviction, which Ranko smiled at, seeing that Shampoos near boundless energy directed in helping her rather than attempting to work against her was certainly a nice change.

"Thank you Shampoo, we'll get started first thing tomorrow morning ok?" Ranko said, which Shampoo responded to with a curt nod and a smile. Both women placed their dishes from dinner in the dishwasher, before Ranko asked if she could use the bath.

Settling into the small bathhouse in the back of the Nekohanten, Ranko slowly stripped off her silk shirt, much like her older read one, save for its color, which was primarily black with red trim, her loose fitting pants of similar design to her old ones as well, save for their dark blue color. She groaned as she moved her still extremely sore body, taking every ounce of strength she had to not scream out in chronic pain, small pin pricks of tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she finally managed to shimmy out of her loose clothes, having no undergarments beneath them, she dipped herself in the now full tub, her body turning back into a man.

He now looked at his larger hands, his flat but muscular chest, crisscrossed with many faded small scars, scars which did not transfer over to his female form. He had found out long ago that the markings he had from before his curse were exclusive to his birth gender, his female form unmarred by the years of neglect, torture and abuse that he had sustained in those years of hellish training.

Looking at his reflection in the water, staring back at him, he undid the braid he wore, letting his hair fall like a jet black curtain around his face, letting his hair hide the face he had come to loathe. This was the face of someone he no longer wished to be, and as he sat in the slowly cooling water, he began to sob, his hair covering his face, small droplets falling into the water.

Eventually, the water cooled to the point that it activated his curse once more, now looking at herself once again, Ranko brushed her hair out of her eyes to see a kinder, gentler face, one with which she could make a new beginning. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and used the bar of soap to scrub her body clean. She felt her thoughts drift towards those she longed to make penance.

Akane had never known, though she had long ago admitted to herself, that Ranko believed that she was a gifted martial artist, if hotheaded and stubborn, but Ranko knew that Akane was not entirely at fault, after all, she had fired back many an insult as Ranma, and she would personally repent for every single one of those needless hurtful insults in good time.

Ukyo, the traveling chef, a skilled one at that, also deserved many apologies as well, not for insults, but for lack of proper thanks, after all, Ranma had rarely ever given Ukyo anywhere near the proper amount of respect she deserved. Such a good friend who never made a big deal out of the shenanigans she had been forcibly roped into.

There were many others, and each would receive a visit from the repentant redhead in due time, but there was one more woman that Ranko had come to consider close in her heart, her current hostess, Shampoo. The bubbly Amazon had all but saved her life, and for that alone she would be grateful for the rest of her days. But over the past few days with Shampoo, Ranko had found some of the old attraction she formerly held towards the well endowed warrior maiden.

Her beauty was second to none, flowing natural purple locks, finely toned athletic musculature, shapely ass that wiggled as she walked, a pair of jiggling breasts that were threatening to burst out of her tight dresses as she moved with every graceful step, and violet eyes that could melt hearts with a wink. Ranko felt her own hands rapidly fly up to her cheeks, smacking herself on them several times in a row, her mind desperately trying to claw its way out of the gutter. She had long been physically attracted to Shampoo the most out of all her former fiancés, and she was loathe to admit it, but she couldn't shake the memories of seeing the statuesque nude form of the literal Amazon several times from years earlier, and she hadn't missed one very hard to ignore fact, the busty beauty had grown even more beautiful the past few years, making her mind drag even deeper into the proverbial gutter as to how the figure of Shampoo had grown with said beauty.

She couldn't help but once again look at her reflection, this time a much more pleasing sight met her eyes. She had long been aware of the power that her female form possessed, being swifter than her male form in exchange for brute strength, along with the glaringly obvious endowments she had growing from her chest. While not quite as big as Shampoo's, her breasts had also grown with age, giving her a healthy but busty frame, along with a small but round derriere, she felt her hands subconsciously move towards it, sliding down first over her waist, which flared out in a pleasing hourglass shape to her ample hips and thighs, her hands finally coming to rest on the moon white skin of her firm tush. Her nipples were bright pink, her muscles pronounced yet very much feminine at the same time, her long legs slender like an Olympic runners, her arms equally slender but muscular, her hands and feet petite and gentle looking, despite the fact that she could easily smash large sections of concrete into rubble with her bare hands.

Her eyes at last looked to the most intimate change from her male form, the sweet pink lips of her pussy nestled between her lithe legs, devoid of a single strand of red hair around it. She had always wondered why the curse prevented her from growing any form of body hair, true she shaved herself under the arms as a male, but she had never shaved down there. Somehow her pussy lips were permanently clean shaven, not even the slightest trace of stubble able to be felt even after being in the form for weeks on end over the past few years.

She shook her head clear of all other thoughts, draining the water from the tub, sitting herself on the bathrooms cold tile floor, cross legged, assuming a meditative pose. She had studied for an entire year with a group of Shinto monks, who taught her the means to clear her mind, allowing her the ability to focus on what was truly important, her current goal of atoning for her past mistakes having been reached through her meditating on the matter for a solid week, not eating, sleeping, or drinking. She had left the monastery that the monks resided in the day after reaching her epiphany, stopping only to briefly drink here and there, running almost nonstop from the northern tip of Hokkaido all the way to Nerima.

As she calmed her mind, she entered the state of meditation she had mastered, as always, she had learned this new technique with startling speed. Sorting through her thoughts, she separated every memory of the past few days and every thought therein, organizing her thoughts, sharpening her mind through focusing on her goals. Her mind was filled with nothing but 1 objective, make reparations for my past mistakes.

At least, it was just the one singular objective, until her thoughts started to wander unintentionally back to Shampoo, her mind filling with images of her soft caring face looking at her with concern in the hospital, her look of contentment as Ranko had shared a meal with her, her face lighting up at the prospect of helping Ranko complete her task.

Ranko found this both comforting and distressing, the monks had told her that such an overwhelming shift in her thoughts, especially towards a single person meant only one possibility, and the prospect of this all consuming truth sank into Rankos head like a railroad spike into the ground, "I love her!" she stated to the empty bathroom in a choked whisper, her eyes flooding with tears as her head fell into her hands, her ruby red tresses once again hanging around her head like a curtain of fire.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

**Well, um, wow. Just, wow.**

**It took me nearly a year to finish this chapter, and here I was intending for this to be a oneshot, but here I am thinking this will end up a two or three shot instead. **

**I need to note as well, this is my 4****th**** attempt at writing this story, the other 3 starts just didn't feel right, so I started from scratch 4 times in order to make this work.**

**Thank you for all of my readers of this story both old and new to my work for taking the time to read my work, and thank you all for your kind words in reviews, those of you that review anyway.**

**Do not worry my friends, this story shall be completed within the year of this publishing, and I promise you, the ending will be beautiful.**

**Till next time :D**


	2. Reparations

**Reparations**

**Hello again my dear readers, and thank you for your continued support of my work.**

**I wanted to start this off by giving my most sincere thanks for the kind words from each of you, and to those who failed to review upon finishing the first chapter, I hope that you can take a moment to let me hear your voice as well, in a manner of speaking.**

**This just might be the most awaited of an addition to a story I have made in quite some time, but I am happy to announce that School has been going well, and with it, my free time has been more plentiful.**

**That said, this chapter ****WILL ****contain intensely sexual descriptions, and even full on sexual conduct in this chapter, so if you are disturbed by such things, I am giving you this fair warning to turn back now.**

**As for those of you who are staying, welcome aboard the SS Shenanigans! Where the Captain is crazy and the passengers are crazier for not jumping overboard!**

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X **

_She felt fingers tracing her supple curves with a featherlike softness, her mind awash with naught but desire. As the nimble hand of the beautiful woman straddling her went further and further down her body, she became more acutely aware of her need for her lovers touch, her body reacting with enthusiastic bliss. Her mouth let out another moan as she felt the slender fingertips press into the entrance of her tender folds, her mind going blank as she looked up at the face of the one she loved, "Shampoo"…_

Ranko shot up from her bed like it was on fire, breathing heavily, her body covered in cold sweat. Holding her head in her hands, she felt her memories coming back to her, reminding her that she was sleeping the night in the guest room of the Nekohanten. 'A dream, it was just a dream' she thought to herself, trying in vain to keep her heart from racing, the erotic images from the dream still fresh in her mind.

'How in the world did I fall in love with Shampoo?' she asked herself, her mind racing to find an answer, coming up with too many to name, memories of Shampoo wearing a smile and nothing else being a massive factor, not to mention the fact that Shampoo had literally saved her life. She had long ago accepted that she had desires both physical and mental that she couldn't control, but this was something completely out of left field.

As she had bolted upright from her sound slumber, she had also thrown off the covers keeping her nude form covered, the warm material pooling in her lap. Ranko looked briefly down at her chest, able to see from the moonlight streaming in through the window that her bright pink nipples were hard, as well as feeling a slight sticky sensation between her legs. If anyone else had been in the room, they might have turned on the lights and seen that Ranko's face was nearly as red as her hair.

Ranko had long ago learned how to deal with issues involving her sexual desires, but she had only been living as a woman full time for nearly 2 years by this point, save for the occasional necessary transformation back to a man. That said, she never had any problem finding out how to scratch that particular itch, even though she was very private about it.

Standing up from the bed, she went over to the door, moving as silently as she could, her nude body clad in nothing but darkness as she quietly made her way to the bathroom. She managed to reach it without incident, closing the door and turning on the lights, shutting her eyes as the brightness briefly overwhelmed her. As her eyes got used to the light, she looked herself over in the mirror.

In her reflection she saw a beautiful woman, soft lipped, fair skin, ruby red hair that had grown down below her hips currently undone from her usual braid, flowing in cascading waves down her back. Her eyes were sapphire blue, her nose of a button sort, her eyes possessing a rather unusual feature, natural purple eye shadow, which never came off. Her eyes drifted lower to her neck, her broad shoulders clearly muscled, then drifted slowly to her prominent breasts. Ranko had never once admitted it aloud, but she felt that her breasts were beautiful and perfect, her fit lifestyle and choices keeping the skin firm, yet also possessing a softness like silk, her cherry blossom pink nipples roughly the size of a dime each against her quarter sized slightly darker areolas, not a single vein or stretch mark apparent on her generous bust.

Her trim tummy was graced with a subtle six pack, honed from years of training. Her hips were wide as her shoulders, giving her an hourglass figure to die for, her body paradoxically athletic, yet erotically busty all at once. She turned around to look at her backside in the mirror, seeing her tight bottom, in all its peach shaped glory. Her back was just as taut as the rest of her, the slight musculature of her body like an arrow that pointed to her succulent behind on the way down. Her legs and arms were not long on her frame, yet still looked slim by comparison to the rest of her, her thighs and upper arms of descent size, but the proportion seemed to get smaller it went further down, making her arms and legs look longer than they actually were.

Ranko could feel her ego practically purring as she took mental stock of her body, pleased with herself that she had not sacrificed her feminine beauty despite keeping such a physical lifestyle. Thinking of her body had slowly worked her arousal back up to full force; she felt small drops of her sweet nectar dripping out from between her legs, biting her lip as she felt the rapidly cooling juices run down the insides of her creamy thighs. She shivered, she knew that this was risky, she could get herself off and go back to sleep, and risk waking Shampoo with her moans, or she could try to go back to sleep and risk not being able to.

She bit her lip and grabbed her head in frustration, her desire getting the best of her as she sat on the stool set up in front of the shower head, making sure the door behind her was locked and the curtain drawn as she slowly worked her fingers into an out of her warm flower like pussy, her body wracked with orgasmic bliss as she moved her hand faster than the eyes could see, bringing herself to orgasm in under a minute. She would have normally taken the time to enjoy it, but she knew that this would be the only alternative with the person of her affections in such close proximity. Turning on the water, she washed her body clean on the coldest possible setting.

'What in the blue hell is wrong with me?' she asked herself, leaning up against the tile wall, the water running off her head and down her back. 'I have to make things right, that's why I came back, not to screw Shampoo!' she said to herself, half her mind agreeing, the other half wanting nothing less than to go roll in the hay with the vivacious Amazon.

'Get a hold of yourself Ranko, if you really want to get together with Shampoo, its best that you fix things first, no need to make things even more complicated before you have the chance to fix what's broken .' she reasoned with herself. Her entire body stiffened as she heard a knock at the door.

"Ranko, are you ok?" Shampoo said through the door, to which Ranko replied "Yeah, I'm ok, thanks Shampoo." She stated, hoping that Shampoo hadn't overheard her brief period of self pleasure. "I'll be headed back to bed shortly" Ranko stated through the door "Alright, goodnight Ranko" Shampoo responded "you too" Ranko answered.

She turned off the frigid water and toweled herself off, letting her eyes again wander over her figure, this time dripping wet, her hair damped, making it look darker than normal.

'Why in the hell did I get this curse?' she asked herself as she slowly made her way back to her room, wrapping the towel around her body for modesty's sake in case Shampoo saw her. 'At least it gives me a way to live with myself, Ranma Saotome was not worthy of his gifts, but Ranko Sao is patient, kind, she can fix what was wrong' she said, focusing her thoughts, this time, her mind was not filled with thoughts of lust but those of determination. She was soon wrapped back in the warmth of her covers, falling asleep rapidly.

Little did Ranko know that Shampoo had changed into cat form just after she had left the bathroom door, her smaller body and ability to see in the dark useful in watching Ranko head back to her room, watching her intently, her eyes widening when she saw just how much Rankos body had matured since she had seen it many years before as Ranko took off the towel in her room before laying down.

If Shampoo could have blushed as a cat, she would have been doing so. Her people, the "Chinese Amazons" as many had called them, were by and large unopposed to bisexuality, despite the fact that they were somewhat secretive due to the Chinese government being rather trigger-happy when it came to differences from the social norms.

But Shampoo had long since stopped caring about Chinas laws, she had lived in Japan for years, and while Japan was not open to homosexual marriage, it did not frown as much upon homosexual relations as the militarily minded Chinese government. Shampoo felt a twinge of joy spring forth in her heart when she saw Ranko turn over in her sleep to face the transformed woman/cat, and saw a peacefully asleep face, not burdened by the weight of regret and guilt she had felt for so long.

She quickly ran into the bathroom, using her teeth to turn on the hot water into the large tub on, sticking her head under the faucet, changing her back into her voluptuous human form, crouching in the large basin of the tub itself.

She shook her loose hair free, flowing freely down her back, matted with water, looking like a cascade of lavender. Shampoo had long been aware that she was pretty, some would even say beautiful, but she had been vain in her youth, trying to rely on her body to elicit Ranma's attention, before turning to her ego driven craftiness, both of which failed time and again.

But like many flowers before her, Shampoo had only blossomed with age and experience. Her considerably sized breasts were large even when she was 16, but at 19, her boobs were nearly an E cup if her bra was to be believed, and she was starting to wonder if she should have been wearing an F cup bra the way it was starting to pinch. Her slim tummy was firm, her hips were wide, but not to the same extent as her shoulders, giving her hourglass figure a slightly wider top than her bottom, but her firm tush was by no means flat, possessing a fine curvy shape that wiggled as she walked. In short, she was busty and proud of it.

She worked out daily in various ancient martial arts to keep herself fit, and her hard work showed. That said, Shampoo had recently been feeling her mind move towards the future. Amazons were often wed on their 18th birthday to the male who had defeated them in battle. Amazon women may hold the positions of power in her culture, but it was still seen as a necessity to have children. Many amazons took 2 partners, one man and one woman in order to allow both sides of their sexuality be expressed, while also allowing the men who were never considered Amazons to propagate with both women, thus ensuring stability.

Mousse may have been from her tribe, but he had never struck her fancy, and no person had, until Ranma came along. But at the time, Ranma had been in female form, so Shampoo had been intrigued by this one who had defeated her, giving her the kiss of death to test this ruby haired stranger's skill. Upon learning of her pursued targets curse and thus alternate gender, she had been obligated with her defeat via Ranma's male form to honor her people's traditions, though she couldn't deny a subtle attraction to both forms.

That said, in her time in Japan, Shampoo had done some introspection, finding that she had always preferred women over men, her eyes far more appreciative of the sleek and slender curves of other women to the solid masses of muscle of the athletic men of her village. Her feline forms eyes had allowed her to see in darkness the beauty of her former fiancé in full, and her breath had been stolen by the fluid grace of Ranko's unintentionally sensual movements.

Shampoo stepped out of the tub after turning off the water, watching it drain as she dried off with a fluffy towel, her body glistening in the moonlight streaming in from the window as she wiped away water on her skin. She slipped on a robe that she kept on a hook near the door, slipping it on and quietly padding back to her room, hearing Ranko's light breathing as she passed her door, smiling as she slipped the robe off her body once she reached her room and shut the door. Slipping under the covers, she fell fast asleep, letting her mind be whisked away by the Sandman.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X **

The next morning dawned bright and sunny, Ranko and Shampoo eating a quick breakfast before heading out to make reparations. Shampoo was dressed in her usual purple dress and pants, while Ranko was dressed again in a variant of her old outfit, a Chinese silk shirt that left most of her arms bare, the fabric a deep blue silk, along with a black pair of silk pants, and a borrowed pair of underwear from Shampoo, whose bras were close enough in size to work for Rankos slightly less stacked figure. Over her outfit she wore her tattered brown cloak, the hood drawn up so that passersby couldn't see her face or hair, after all, how many ruby redheads had the people of Nerima seen besides her? Shampoo followed closely behind Ranko as they made their way slowly towards the Tendo dojo on foot.

Reaching the front door of the dojo, Ranko knocked on the door frame, eliciting a response from behind it "Goodness me, who could it be this early in the morning?" said a soft motherly voice from inside. The sliding door was pushed aside, revealing the eldest of the Tendo sisters, Kasumi, "oh, Shampoo! Good morning dear" she bowed politely to Shampoo who returned the gesture "um, Shampoo, who is this with you?" the matronly protective eye of Kasumi narrowing slightly as she eyed the cloaked figure. "Kasumi, it's been a long time" the hooded figure responded, Kasumi recognizing the voice, it was older and slightly deeper, more seasoned to be sure, but she recognized it nevertheless, "Ranma-kun?" she asked, her eyes widening as Ranko pulled her hood back, the distinct shade of ruby being all the proof that she needed "Oh my! Ranma-kun welcome home!"Kasumi said with a warm smile.

Ranko wanted to correct her right then and there, but she knew she would have to explain it more than once anyway, so she may as well kill as many birds with one stone as she could. She was about to ask Kasumi to retrieve the other members of the Tendo family, but before she could she heard a voice that she knew could only belong to one woman "Kasumi, who's at the door?" Akane said as she rounded the corner, stopping dead in her tracks as she stared at her former fiancé in shock.

"Ranma…" she managed to get out before she broke down in tears and rapidly advanced on the slightly taller woman, wrapping her in a hug that would have broken her spine had it not been for Ranko's near superhuman durability. Despite her bodies durability, she did still suffer the one fatal flaw of being human, a need to breathe. "Ak-an-e!" Ranko barely managed to gasp out before Akane released her, Ranko taking deep gasping breaths to refill her compressed lungs.

"Akane" she said still out of breath, "Its Ranko now." Akane and Kasumi both looked highly confused, but listened to Ranko's request to speak with everyone in the Tendo household in the living room so she could explain to everyone the details.

She relayed the story of her journey of self discovery, and her return to Nerima. The assembled Tendo family and Shampoo sat in silence, trying to take it all in. Nabiki, ever the opportunist, was the first to break the silence, "So you've become a woman full time then? I gotta say Ranko, you sure have filled out, kinda making me jealous." Nabiki exclaimed with all the subtlety of a punch to the gut.

Ranko could only give a small smile and roll her eyes at Nabiki's statement. Nabiki had come out of the closet as a lesbian just after the failed wedding, her father predictably complaining again about a lack of heirs to the family legacy, but she had held firm.

Kasumi was the next to speak, "Ranko, you said that you came back to Nerima to make reparations, but I cannot imagine why you would need to." She said with a confused shrug.

"I hate to disagree with you Kasumi, but I have made many mistakes that need to be answered for, and so did my father. As his child, I have the responsibility of fixing what he couldn't. I am here to at least offer apologies to all of you for the troubles he and I caused you." With this statement, Ranko knelt on the floor and bowed low, signifying the most humble and deepest levels of apology in the Japanese culture.

The trio of sisters were shocked at this, they had never before seen Ranko act so penitent, to literally beg for forgiveness, it was not something they expected.

Akane, to everyone's surprise, spoke up first "I forgive you, for everything."

Ranko's head shot up like a bullet her eyes wide in disbelief. Never had it entered her mind that Akane would be the first to forgive, she thought that it would take some time, but Akane's statement had thrown her for a complete loop.

Shampoo was even thrown for a loop, her interactions over the past 3 years allowing her to see how much Akane had grown in that time, but she was not prepared for this either.

Ranko was again about to speak, when a loud knocking came from the front door, "Nabiki! Are you home honey?" came the new voice.

Ranko recognized the distinctive voice immediately upon hearing it. "Uc-chan!" she said, her eyes widening at the realization.

And Ukyo was soon in the modest living room, her oversized spatula strapped on her back. Her eyes widened "Ran-chan!" With that exclamation, she fainted on the spot, Ranko managing to gently catch her before she fell to the floor, and helped lower her onto said floor.

"Ukyo!" Nabiki exclaimed kneeling before her girlfriend in concern. Of course, after waiting for her to awaken, Ranko relayed her tale once again. Nabiki had her arm wrapped around her girlfriend's shoulders, giving her a warm hug. Ranko let a smile form on her lips, her heart at ease to know that Nabiki and Ukyo had found someone to love, and she was happy for her long time friend.

Within the next two hours, she had managed to relay her sincere apologies, and received the acceptance from the assembled in a heartbeat. She had thought that she would have to work excessively for the forgiveness that she sought, but she soon learned from those she offered forgiveness to that they themselves felt the need to convey forgiveness as well.

Akane was the first to speak up on this subject. "Ranko, I wanted to apologize too, for constantly overreacting, and getting so worked up" small tears rolling down her face. Ranko kissed Akanes forehead, her forgiveness conveyed through the kiss.

In short order, the other people in the room apologized in turn. Ranko was elated, out of either pure luck or a fated encounter she knew not which, she had managed to find the bulk of the people she had intended to proclaim forgiveness to in one place, and even more heartwarming, she had received not only acceptance from all of them, but she had attained their own repentance in return.

"Thank you all, but, there is something else." She let out a deep mournful sigh, and reached for the hidden pocket on the inside of her cloak, pulling out a scroll. "This scroll was at the monastery I stayed at while I was soul searching, and it is said to contain an ancient legend."

Laying the scroll on the table, she continued as the others listened intently "I found it in the monastery's library, and according to the head monk, the legend is one that goes back to before the first emperor of China, well over two thousand years." The others were stunned, surely this was something of extreme importance to Ranko if she was showing it to them.

"It looks like it is written in the ancient Amazon dialect of Chinese" Shampoo exclaimed, reading the writing on the outer most edge of the scroll. "Yeah, which is why it is so hard to read" Ranko admitted. "Wait, why would you be telling us about this?" Akane questioned.

"Remember when Pops died?" And sure enough, they did, the old drunk had finally drank too much sake and succumbed to a heart defect brought on by his years of alcoholism, leaving Ranma and Nodoka the last of the Saotome family. "The old bastard left me a will, if you can believe it" Ranko said, pulling out the well-worn paper that contained the will.

She began to read it,

"_My son, I know that I have not been the father I should have been, to say the very least. I wanted my son to be the greatest martial artist the world has ever known, and to pass down the Saotome style to generations to come. But, I see now that this is not to be. I write this will to say what I never could in life, I love you son, and I truly am sorry for not being a better father to you, and a better husband to your mother. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my many shortcomings, because despite them, I only ever wanted what was best for you, even if I was too blinded by my own bottomless stupidity, greed and selfishness to properly act on that as a father should._

_I have already sent the other half of my will to your mother, and she will receive it, I promise. As to your curse, and to your fear of cats, I have no way to express how much I wish I could take away those problems with my passing, but I know of a place that may be able to help you. It is a temple to the north, run by monks. They trained me before Happosai, and started me on the path to becoming a martial artist. I believe they may have the answers you seek. They are far better masters than Happosai ever was. _

_I love you son, don't ever think otherwise. Your father, Genma Saotome"_

Despite herself, Ranko had tears beginning to form in her eyes. Even if only a fraction of this will was true, she had no doubt in her mind that her father was trying, in his own way, to comfort her in his passing.

The Tendo sisters and Ukyo were again stunned, Ranko reading that letter was one thing, but to see her so broken up over it, they had never seen this side to her before. She made no effort to hide the tears, but quickly wiped them up.

"The monks at the temple helped me get past my hatred for the old bastard, and helped me come to terms with everything. I finally became comfortable with this form, but after I did, I decided to stay in this form constantly so that I can start a new life, and hopefully, make up for the mistakes of my past life." She wiped her eyes again and picked up the scroll that she had pulled out earlier.

She unfurled it and laid it out on the table, letting everyone see the ancient writing. "This scroll is actually an incomplete replica of the original scroll, which was said to reside in the amazon village." They saw how portions of the scroll seemed to be blank, missing large parts and some of the characters not properly copied and smudged.

"Near as the monks could tell, this copy was never finished. But, there is a pretty good chance that the original scroll still exists. One problem" she said before looking at Shampoo, "I am pretty sure the elders of your tribe won't let just anyone look at one of their most prized relics."

Shampoo nodded and read the scroll's text. "I can barely make out what this writing says, but from what I can tell, it is about the ancient source from which the drowned springs mystical power comes from" Shampoo said, the others trying to understand the total implications.

"But, Ranko, why would you tell us this?" Shampoo asked with a curious eye. Ranko sighed and let the silence hang in the air for a moment before answering. "I came back to make up for the many mistakes I have made, and I am so glad that you all are so willing to forgive me. This legend, if it has even a hint of truth to it, just might be the way to cure me of my curse. But after being away without any warning whatsoever for so long, I felt that you all deserved to know what was going on."

She felt her heart flutter as Shampoo's tender hand placed itself atop hers. "I can't do this alone" she said looking at Shampoo directly now, "I need your help."

Surprise after surprise, Ranko asking for help after begging forgiveness. The ladies around the table knew that Ranko was dead serious about her plans, but still stunned by how much she had changed. Still, they were proud that Ranko had made such efforts to become a better person.

"Again, thank you all for your forgiveness, it means the world to me after being weighed down by it for so long." She sighed and let out another deep breath. "If I need to consult the elders of Shampoo's village, which means that she and I have to get to China."

Nabiki suddenly spoke up "hmm, tickets to China, not exactly cheap, but I suppose I do owe you for all of those pictures of you I sold way back when" she said as she stood up and walked out of the dining room, and came back a moment later with a large stack of yen notes, neatly organized. She handed the stack to Ranko, whose jaw was on the floor, "That should get you first class tickets to Beijing, with a bit left over for food and such."

Ranko stood up faster than anyone could see and embraced Nabiki tightly, her many rapid utterances of 'thank you' being muffled due to the fact that her face was smothered in the shoulder of the very surprised Nabiki. "Easy Ran-chan, wouldn't want you moving in on my girlfriend" Ukyo joked, Ranko blushing and letting out a giggle, of all things, at what Ukyo said, "sorry Nabiki, Uc-chan" making the others burst into a fit of giggles as well.

Shampoo covered her mouth with her hand and giggled with them, and decided to speak up as well, "I will gladly help you Ranko, I know how much this means to you" she said with a warm smile on her face, Ranko answering back with a 'thank you' to her.

The rest of the night, the assembled women talked about how their lives had been since Ranko had left, allowing Ranko to learn that her mother was now teaching traditional Japanese tea making and flower arranging, and that she was doing well. Ranko then wrote a letter to her mother and asked the others to make sure it reached her, as she planned to leave, but she also intended to return to Japan with her curse removed when she returned to her homeland.

With everything done she had intended to do accomplished, most of it much sooner than expected, Ranko and Shampoo said goodbye to the Tendo sisters and Ukyo, and began the walk back to the Nekohanten.

Ranko had explained that she would be planning to leave for China in 2 days on a flight to Beijing, and Shampoo agreed to go with her. Over those next 2 days, the required preparations were made, the Nekohanten locked up to be reopened later, and the pair heading to the airport with decidedly minimal luggage, one small carryon bag for the both of them, and they were soon on the plane ready to take off. Ranko looked out the window and said a silent goodbye to Japan as the plane slowly sped up, until it finally took to the sky, carrying Ranko's hopes with it.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X **

**PHEW! (Wipes off his brow) it took me quite longer than originally planned to finish this chapter, but I finished it nevertheless. Remind me next time to never make myself a schedule I cannot realistically stick to.**

**So, chapter two done, one more to go, home stretch. If you have liked this story so far, wonderful, I aim to please.**

**If you didn't like this story, or just a particular part of it, I would strongly urge you to leave a review to tell me what you think could be improved. If you want to say a lot, type in as much as you can, I honestly want to see all of what you have to say.**

**Even if you liked this story so far, feel free to say so in a review as well. And again, lengthy reviews are no problem at all, in fact I welcome them. And if you liked the story but still wish to throw in constructive criticism, that is perfectly fine too.**

**And before I close this chapter out, I want to send out a very special message to a close personal friend of mine, Major Mike Powell III. The day of this chapters publishing is his birthday, so Happy Birthday Major **

**Hope to see all of you in the next chapter :D**


End file.
